Blog

“The beginning is the most important part of the work.” Do you know who said that? It was the Greek philosopher, Plato. With that said, I’m happy to finally start my blog and hope anyone reading this will join me on my online adventure as I write about screenwriting, filmmaking and other media-related topics.

For those of you getting to know me, my full name is Mariano Marquez III, but feel free to call me, Mario, like most of my family and friends. I was born and raised in San Francisco, CA, the city I have called home my entire life.

Unlike most of my film school peers who have relocated to Hollywood, I’m one of the few still in the City by the Bay. Speaking of college, I graduated from San Francisco’s Academy of Art University in 2009 w/ a BFA in film. If you’re curious about what I’ve studied, my About page has a complete list of my university course studies.

Quick Facts

I’m a second generation San Franciscan (my dad was born and raised in San Francisco).

My family has been in San Francisco since the early 1920’s (paternal side).

I’ve been writing since the age of 10, where I first started out writing short stories.

As a kid, I also wanted to be an architect.

I love music and would love to learn how to play the piano.

Some of my other interests include anthropology, art and philosophy.

Growing up, I always loved reading books in the detective, mystery and thriller genres and wanted to become a novelist of such topics. Until writing this first blog post, I wasn’t entirely sure why I made the switch to screenwriting. I love movies, but perhaps my interest in other creative departments like architecture also had something to do with it? Screenwriting resembles architecture because screenplays are blueprints just like architectural renderings.

I’ve always been a visually inclined person, but there’s another element that comes to play, music! And music has its own respective blueprint, the musical composition. In total disregard to the silent film (joking), we all know that sound is half the entertainment when it comes to the cinematic experience. What I’ve learned is that music and design were my reasons for making the switch from novelist to screenwriter. It’s interesting what a little self-analysis will reveal about you and your motivations. As a side note, though, I would like to write at least 1 novel in my lifetime, so that childhood dream of becoming a novelist is still alive.

If you’re wondering why I started this blog, there are many reasons. One driving force is to build an online community of like-minded artists, a community where we all learn from each others’ input and experiences. Once that happens, I’d love to work with you on my next film, or maybe yours. We might even become lifelong friends in the process.

I believe wholeheartedly in the idea that we reap what we sow, so this blog is my way of reaching out to anyone who shares my dream of one day becoming an established screenwriter and/or filmmaker. I’ve been fortunate enough to receive an education and hope I can share my knowledge with those in a different situation. Besides, do you really want to dig yourself into a massive sinkhole of debt over an arts degree? All kidding aside, I’ll not only share my film school wisdom with you, but also something called real-world experience, including the ongoing process of shooting my documentary feature debut, “The Encampments.”